18TH CENTURY REVIVAL Early In The 18th Century, Sea - Bathing Became A Fashionable Pastime,  And This Enabled Brighton To Develop A New Role As A Health Resort. It  Took Over The Role And Ritual Of Inland Spa's, Like Bath, And Adapted  Them To The Seaside, Adding Novelties Like The Newly Invented Bathing  Machine. Brighton's First Recorded Sea - Bathing Visitors Came During The 1730'S  When The Town Was Much Cheaper Than Inland Spa's, Such As Tunbridge  Wells. Dr. Richard Russell Of Lewes, Was A Passionate Advocate Of The  Power Of Spa And Sea Water.
After 1750 He Sent Patients To A House At The Front Of The Steine,  Owned By Himself ( Now The Site Of The Albion Hotel )    He Further  Established His Reputation, And That Of Brighton, By Writing A Book  On The Use Of Seawater To Treat Various Illnesses. He Also  Encouraged Lewes Businessman To Invest In Brighton's Development  As A Sea Resort. Accessibility Was An Important Factor In Brighton's Development As A  Resort. It Was The Nearest Coastal Town To London And Lay An What, After 1760, Became A Popular Route To The Continent. After 1750 Road  Transport Improved Considerably And The Journey From London Took About Five Hours.
Proximity To Lewes And Tunbridge Wells, Both Centers For Sussex Society,  Played An Important Part During The Early Years, When Most Of Brighton's  Visitors Were Drawn From The Surrounding Region. Between 1750 And 1780, The Number Of Visitors Increased And There  Was Much Investment In The New Facilities Such As Lodging Houses,  Libraries, Bathing Machines And Theatres.
After 1780 Growth Was Spectacular, Development Spilled Over Into Farmland  To The North And East Of The Town Close To The Steine,  Which Had Become  A Popular Promenade. Much Of The New DevelopmentFollowed The Divisions  Of The Old Field System. The Old Town Became The Business Center For  The New Suburban Residential Areas. When George Prince Of Wales, First Came To Brighton In 1783, It Was By  Then The Most Fashionable Seaside Resort, And As He Liked It So Much,  He Decided To Establish His Seaside Home Overlooking The Steine In 1784,  And This Set The Seal On Brighton's Popularity, And Inspired Four Decades Of Frenzied Development.
The Threat Of Invasion During The Napoleonic Wars, Bought Large Numbers  Of Troops To Brighton, And This Paradoxically, Added To The Attraction  Of A Visit. Jane Austin's Heroine Laddie Bennet, Thought A Visit To Brighton  " Comprised Every Possibility Of Earthly Happiness ", And Advised Her  Sisters ; " Go To Brighton, That's The Place To Get Husbands!" This Period Of Rapid Growth Witnessed An Overflowing Of Architectural  Inventiveness. Famous Architects, Such As Holland, Pordon And Nash Helped  Build The Prince Regent's Pavilion ( FIG 31 AND 32. ) And The Prime  Constituents Of Brighton's Regency Style. However It Was A Local Trio, Of  Charles Busby, Amon Wilds And His Son Amon Henry Wilds, Whose Work  Had The Most Impact On Brighton, Both In Terms Of Quality And Vigour Of  Their Designs.
By 1820 The Town Had Spread From Royal Crescent  In The East, To Bedford  Square In The West,  And The Population In Forty Years Had Risen From 3,500  To 25,000. At That Time The Seasonal Visitors Numbered About 10,000 From  All Walks Of Life. Increasingly Large Family Groups, With Servants, Would Arrive And Expect To  Entertain Lavishly In Their Own Homes. The Facilities Could Just Not Cope,  Particularly For The Larger Houses. During The 1820'S Developers Sought To  Establish Self - Contained Suburbs At Kemptown, In The East, And Brunswick  Town In The West. Neither Was Wholly Successful As A Spectacular Venture,  But Both Made Their Mark On Brighton's Seafront. The Developers Also Built New Churches And Assembly Rooms, And Created  Competition With The Old Town. The Older Housing Near The Center  Became Less Popular, And Much Of It Was Converted Into Boarding Houses  And Single Room Lodgings. During The 1830'S Growth Fell Sharply, This Was Due In Part To The  Competition From Other Resorts, And In Part To Economic Recession. The Town Faced Unemployment, Bankruptcy, And Poor Return On Housing  Investment. Concern Over The Future Prompted Great Interest In A Proposed  Rail Link With London, And After Much Debate, A Line Was Opened In  1841.  This Opening Coincided With An Economic Revival, And Heralded  A Period Of Great Prosperity And Growth In The Town. After 1840, Many Medium Sized Terrace Houses Were Built As Well As Large  Detached Villas. During The Decade The Population Rose From 45,000  To 65,000. The Regency Style Persisted Into The 1850'S When It Was  Gradually Replaced By Victorian Preoccupations. From 1841, Brighton Became A Popular Resort For Short Holidays From  London. It Attracted Wealthy Long Stay Visitors During The Winter Months,  And Short Stay Visitors During The Summer, More And More Chose To  Commute To And From London Daily, While Middle Class Families  Sought Retirement Homes In The New Suburbs. By 1850, Due To High Demand, Their Was A Shortage Of Suitable Building  Land For The New Development. As A Result, Rents Rose Quickly With  Far Reaching Consequences For The Community, Which Was Largely  Dependant On Rented Accommodation. The Working Class And Unemployed Were The Hardest Hit, And Many Slums  Developed In The Older Parts Of Town. Brighton Was Hemmed In By One  Private Agricultural Holding, Which Belonged To William Stanford, And  Stretched From The Seafront West Of Brunswick, To The Ditchling Road. In 1853 The Estate Passed To Stanford's Daughter, But Only After Her Marriage  In 1867 Was The Land Released For Development. In 1854 Brighton Was  Incorporated As A Borough, But Brunswick Town And Areas To The West,  Successfully Resisted Inclusion, Thus The Foundation For The Separate  Town Of Hove. The Borough Of Brighton Had An Area Of 1,100 Hectares And A Population  Of 65,000. New Resort Attractions, Such As West Pier, The Aquarium, Palace  Pier, Various Public Baths And The Large Seafront Hotels, Were All Built In  Brighton, While Hove Resisted Tourist Development, Preferring To Keep Its  Image Of A Low Density Residential Town.      Before 1854 Both Towns Were Run By The Church And Commissioners,  And It Was Not Until Incorporation In 1854, That The Municipal  Improvements Were Put Into Effect. By Then Proper Sewage Was Long  Over Due, The Beaches Were Polluted, And Uncontrolled Activities By  Factories And Abattoirs, Posed A Serious Health Problem. The Growing Population Required Ever Increasing Supplies Of Potable  Water, And New Pumping Stations Were Needed To Supply The Town  From Down Land Aquifers. The Release Of Stanford Land, Allowed Development In Hove It The West  Of Brunswick Town During The 1870'S, And A Grid Of Wide Avenues And  Rather Portentous Victorian Villas And Terraces Grew Up Between The  Railway And The Sea. Meanwhile, Brighton Was Growing Northwards On  Stanford Land Around Preston, And Soon Both Preston And Patcham  Villages, Were Caught Up In A Ribbon Of Development. The Late Victorian Developments Were Architecturally Less Distinguished  Than Those Of Earlier Decades Of The Century, But The Town Did  Experience An Enormous Spate Of Church Building To Very High Standards. During The 25 Years After The Railway In 1841, The Number Of Anglican  Churches Rose From 14 To 27. Brighton Vicars, Henry Michell Wagner,  And His Son Arthur Douglas, Between Them Commissioned And Financed  No Less Than Eleven Churches, Employing Such Noted Architects As  Carpenter And Bodley.                 NEXT